By Canadian Press

Canada’s Ted-Jan Bloemen wins bronze in 5,000 metres at speedskating World Cup

Jan 20, 2018 | 11:41 AM

ERFURT, Germany — Calgary’s Ted-Jan Bloemen won the bronze medal in the men’s 5,000 metres at a long-track speedskating World Cup on Saturday for his fourth podium finish in as many races in that distance.

Bloemen, who holds the world record in the 5,000 set earlier this season, finished Saturday’s race in six minutes 17.11 seconds.

Norway’s Sverre Lunde Pedersen was first in 6:14.66 and Italy’s Nicola Tumolero (6:16.11) collected silver.

“I’m really happy with my execution and the way this race turned out,” said Bloemen. “We’ve been in Germany for only two days and we still have tired legs, having trained a lot over the past few weeks, so it was a really challenging race for me. But I still managed to pick up a bronze medal, so overall I’m pretty happy and this was a really good preparation for the Olympics.”

Toronto’s Jordan Belchos and Ben Donnelly of Oshawa, Ont., finished 15th and 16th respectively.

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Ottawa’s Ivanie Blondin finished sixth in the women’s 1,500 in 1:57.62. Brianne Tutt, from Airdrie, Alta., was 11th (1:58.21).

Dutch skaters Ireen Wust (1:55.66) and Marrit Leenstra (1:55.75) took the first two spots, followed by Norway’s Ida Njatun (1:56.66).

“I’m really happy with my result today,” said Blondin. “I was really focused on what I needed to do and execute to have a good race, and I didn’t think too much about how my body was feeling coming into this race. We had a training camp in Phoenix beforehand and did a lot of cycling and we weren’t on the ice very long, so I wasn’t expecting a very good result this weekend.”

Vincent De Haitre of Cumberland, Ont., was 10th in the men’s 1,000 while Quebec City’s Alexandre St-Jean was 12th.

Denny Morrison from Fort St. John, B.C., was ninth place in the men’s 5,000-metre B group race.

The Canadian Press